(Apologies in advance) New car advice

[theantmeister]

Now, I know cars bore the pants off most people, but they're a fact of life. Especially when you're like me and have to commute each and every day, just waiting for something else to go wrong and cost me money.

I currently drive an Alfa, which has been a great car overall, but it barely scraped through its last MOT and it probably won't pass another. So I'm going to have to replace it in the next year. The question is, what the hell do I replace it with?

I was thinking about going electric/hybrid, but I'm worried that it is still too soon for that. Anyone have one of these? Any recommendations? I do a lot of miles (70 a day, 5 days a week) can an electric car handle that?

The other thing I'm struggling with is whether I want to buy or lease. After owning a Fiat and an Alfa, I really don't see any point in buying another car. Sure, you get that few years between making the final payment and needing a new car, but you're still then having to MOT and service the thing and at the end you're left with something that is practically worthless. Also, if I do go electric, I'm going to spend all that money on a battery that's going to die like an old laptop.

I've never leased a car before though. Has anyone else done it? It doesn't seem like all the car companies even have personal leasing schemes. BMW have it right on the offers page, but Nissan only seem to offer it to companies.

I haven't completely discounted a regular petrol car either. I may end up going with one if electric doesn't work out. Diesel is right out though, given the noises being made about emissions.

Anyway, help would be appreciated.

[Bub&Bob]

I went down the PCP route. Put down a £5k deposit and am paying £170 a month over two years. At the end I can buy it, trade it in for another new car or just give it back.

In theory, I should only have to tax it in year two and probably get a set of tyres but that's all, no servicing or MOT and covered by warranty.

Ok, so the £5k has gone but it feels a better way of getting a new car regularly which means not loosing half the value in 6 months, no worries at MOT time and having to shell out £1,000 for a clutch!!

[Megamixer]

I have heard that depending on your lease deal, you have to rent the electric batteries separately to the car through a different company (or something to that effect). Worth bearing in mind or at least researching beforehand.

If you own the battery outright then there's no reason why they suddenly won't go 'bad' as with any other sort of battery and they cost thousands to replace out of warranty. There's a reason why you can pick up electric vehicles out of warranty for nothing at auctions even though the cars themselves aren't that old - dealers don't want to take the risk of adding them to their stock when they can't (or don't want) to guarantee a highly expensive battery.

[crusto]

Be very wary if going down the PCP route. We had our fingers burned badly first time we did it. And I've recently found out I've also been told fibs with my current car. The salesmen I've dealt with so far were completely full of censored, especially the first one. It would take too long to post the details of what was promised and what actually happened at the end of the term. All I will say is take everything they say with a gigantic pinch of salt.

[Antiriad2097]

I went down the PCP route. Put down a £5k deposit and am paying £170 a month over two years. At the end I can buy it, trade it in for another new car or just give it back.

In theory, I should only have to tax it in year two and probably get a set of tyres but that's all, no servicing or MOT and covered by warranty.

Ok, so the £5k has gone but it feels a better way of getting a new car regularly which means not loosing half the value in 6 months, no worries at MOT time and having to shell out £1,000 for a clutch!!

5k? You're paying out around 8.5k. That's as much as my car cost to buy outright new.

[Joey]

I went down the PCP route. Put down a £5k deposit and am paying £170 a month over two years. At the end I can buy it, trade it in for another new car or just give it back.

In theory, I should only have to tax it in year two and probably get a set of tyres but that's all, no servicing or MOT and covered by warranty.

Ok, so the £5k has gone but it feels a better way of getting a new car regularly which means not loosing half the value in 6 months, no worries at MOT time and having to shell out £1,000 for a clutch!!

5k? You're paying out around 8.5k. That's as much as my car cost to buy outright new.

Not everyone wants to drive a small hatch though.

[flatapex]

Realistically 70 miles every day needs a workhorse type car, beware of schemes that limit your mileage.

[theantmeister]

Realistically 70 miles every day needs a workhorse type car, beware of schemes that limit your mileage.

Yeah, those are pretty much my main concerns.

The current front runner today (and it changes every day) is the Hyundai Ioniq. Range shouldn't be a problem and it's half the price of the BMW (and a damn sight prettier IMO).

Anyone own a Hyundai?

[Sega2006]

It depends how long you want to keep it, alot of Independant garages are still unequipt to deal with electric and hybrid cars so servicing and repair can be pricey.

Full on electric poses the issue of charging, if you surpass its range you will need to plot your route around charging stations which can take considerably longer to use than if you were filling up of regular dead dinos, I personally couldnt have one as I lack a place to charge it over night.

Diesel isn't as bad as you think, and this comes from a person who runs a M3 as a daily, the emmisions noises apply to VAG engines altering readings in relation to California's far stricter emission rules and HGV's in Cities as their tolerences are a bit wider than that of a passender car so are more prone to creating smog.
They are ideal for your mileage if its motorway miles, the 318d I had to use for a long journey recently was showing massvie MPG figures cruising at a steady 70.

I personally stay away from Finance or lease, not just because I don't want to keep paying for something if I decide I dont like it anymore or if it stops working but because It means I can can do with it as I please, which is handy as to date the only car I havent fettled with was a gutless Focus.

If its got to be brand spanking new look at the Ford Ecoboosts, small turbo motors that seem to take reasonable abuse, my Dad's 1.6 C-Max moves reasonably sharpish and theres no lag, I'd avoid Beemers unless you want an older workhorse as from experiance parts prices suck.

[flatapex]

It depends how long you want to keep it, alot of Independant garages are still unequipt to deal with electric and hybrid cars so servicing and repair can be pricey.

Full on electric poses the issue of charging, if you surpass its range you will need to plot your route around charging stations which can take considerably longer to use than if you were filling up of regular dead dinos, I personally couldnt have one as I lack a place to charge it over night.

Diesel isn't as bad as you think, and this comes from a person who runs a M3 as a daily, the emmisions noises apply to VAG engines altering readings in relation to California's far stricter emission rules and HGV's in Cities as their tolerences are a bit wider than that of a passender car so are more prone to creating smog.
They are ideal for your mileage if its motorway miles, the 318d I had to use for a long journey recently was showing massvie MPG figures cruising at a steady 70.

I personally stay away from Finance or lease, not just because I don't want to keep paying for something if I decide I dont like it anymore or if it stops working but because It means I can can do with it as I please, which is handy as to date the only car I havent fettled with was a gutless Focus.

If its got to be brand spanking new look at the Ford Ecoboosts, small turbo motors that seem to take reasonable abuse, my Dad's 1.6 C-Max moves reasonably sharpish and theres no lag, I'd avoid Beemers unless you want an older workhorse as from experiance parts prices suck.

seconded on the 1.6 litre focus.

i have the mk2 with the ti-vct engine, it moves without too much persuasion and the newer one needs even less.

bought mine for £2k cash with 40k miles on it

for reliability from something new i would get an octavia vrs

[thingonaspring]

Apologies for hijacking the thread a bit...
but...

Long shot, I know... but does anybody here have either a Toyota Alphard or a Nissan Elgrand? Need a bigger car, and kind of fallen in love with these. They're not cheap, and import only, but I'm tempted by an older one. Just not sure which to go with. Or whether I should ditch that idea and buy a "boring" S-Max/Alhambra/Sharan instead...

[flatapex]

Apologies for hijacking the thread a bit...
but...

Long shot, I know... but does anybody here have either a Toyota Alphard or a Nissan Elgrand? Need a bigger car, and kind of fallen in love with these. They're not cheap, and import only, but I'm tempted by an older one. Just not sure which to go with. Or whether I should ditch that idea and buy a "boring" S-Max/Alhambra/Sharan instead...

as someone that spends a disproportionate amount of time around low volume cars (and being tech expert to loads of their owners), owning one is more of a labour of love than anything, if you want it to be fixable quickly with easily sourced parts by anyone competent, then imports are not for you.

i'm a fan of the eco-boost engines they put in the newer ones, dont know much about the others mentioned

[Sega2006]

Apologies for hijacking the thread a bit...
but...

Long shot, I know... but does anybody here have either a Toyota Alphard or a Nissan Elgrand? Need a bigger car, and kind of fallen in love with these. They're not cheap, and import only, but I'm tempted by an older one. Just not sure which to go with. Or whether I should ditch that idea and buy a "boring" S-Max/Alhambra/Sharan instead...

Don't knock the S-max, yes its related to the plain Jane Galaxy but its got a level of Sportyness to stave away the Pipe and Slippers for a bit, BMW also make the 2 Series Active touring which belive it or not does have a M Sport package avalible, I had one for a few days and was amused by the adjustable sports bolsters and Sport mode complete with Faux Paddleshift on the Autobox.

[thingonaspring]

Don't knock the S-max, yes its related to the plain Jane Galaxy but its got a level of Sportyness to stave away the Pipe and Slippers for a bit, BMW also make the 2 Series Active touring which belive it or not does have a M Sport package avalible, I had one for a few days and was amused by the adjustable sports bolsters and Sport mode complete with Faux Paddleshift on the Autobox.

Thanks flatapex - I do need to look into parts actually, come to think of it. I'm sure Toyota/Nissan are fairly common generally (I bought my ex a Nissan Figaro before, so I know all about imports etc - albeit the Figaro being a Nissan Micra under the bonnet, so VERY easy to sort).

Also, don't get me wrong, I know the S-max is a good car, and it's a lot more sporty than the other options around - I certainly wasn't knocking it
I just really like the look of the others I mentioned *more* - it's just whether I can justify getting one or not! I could be wrong, but I think the 2 series would be out of my price range. I say "boring" because I've owned Vauxhall Astras and the like, and they are functional, but yes, "boring"